A Boynton Beach police sergeant convicted of lying to the FBI about a controversial police chase is not entitled to a new trial and his criminal conviction will remain in place, the trial judge has ruled.

Philip Antico, 37, may face federal prison time when he is sentenced on Jan. 29. He is expected to appeal U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg’s decision to a higher court.

Officer Michael Brown, 48, was convicted of two charges: violating a suspect’s civil rights by using excessive force and using a firearm during a crime of violence for holding his department-issued gun in the same hand that he was using to hit the suspect, passenger Jeffrey Braswell. Part of the beating was caught on video.

Judge Rosenberg has not yet ruled on a request from Brown’s defense to throw out his conviction or order a new trial. A hearing on his case is scheduled for Jan. 24 in federal court in West Palm Beach.

Jurors found Antico, who did not participate in the chase or beating, guilty of obstructing the investigation by lying to the FBI. Prosecutors said he was trying to cover up the actions of officers under his command.

Prosecutors told the jury that Antico intentionally misled FBI agents when they interviewed him, he vouched for the officers and did not reveal that he had made them change their reports.

“There was sufficient evidence to conclude that Sergeant Antico knowingly misled the FBI when he did not disclose that he had rejected several reports in quick succession because the reports did not accurately reflect the use of force that Sergeant Antico saw in the PBSO video,” the judge wrote in her order, filed Tuesday. “There was sufficient evidence to conclude that Sergeant Antico’s memory of some details but not of others demonstrates a knowing intent to mislead the FBI.”

Lerman said he will ask the judge to sentence Antico to probation, citing several factors including Antico’s prior clean record. Sentencing guidelines, which are not binding on the judge, recommend a federal prison term of approximately 15 to 21 months in prison.

Brown faces a maximum potential punishment of 15 years in federal prison, which includes a mandatory five-year term for the gun offense.

A federal jury on Friday found Boynton Beach Police Sgt. Philip Antico guilty of obstructing justice in the investigation of other officers’ beating of an unarmed man after a traffic chase.

The jury found him not guilty of two counts of falsifying records.

His wife sobbed in court as she heard...

(Paula McMahon)

Both men have been free on bond since they were convicted just days apart in November. Both men are expected to be terminated from the department but are still on paid administrative leave, according to the defense.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is in the process of revoking their police certifications.

Four current and former Boynton Beach officers went to trial in November on criminal charges linked to the August 2014 beatings of three suspects after a high-speed car chase.

Antico was the supervisor in charge of nine Boynton officers, including Brown, who chased a car with three occupants up and down Interstate 95 and surrounding neighborhoods at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.

When the chase ended, in Lake Worth, a Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office helicopter recorded video that showed several of the officers beating, kicking, kneeing, punching and using stun guns on the driver and two passengers. Jurors acquitted former officers Ronald Ryan, 50, and Justin Harris, 35, of all of the charges against them.